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Hrachya Rostomyan, the Armenian Olympic Committee secretary general, served as the country's flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony, while Armenia was the only nation not to have an athlete flagbearer present at the Closing Ceremony with a figure in Baku 2015 uniform carrying out the duty.

Armenia confirmed it will compete in the inaugural European Games in March 2015, despite its continuing conflict Azerbaijan.

A final decision was made by the Executive Committee of the Armenian National Olympic Committee following months of deliberation.

Fierce tension has existed between Azerbaijan and Armenia ever since the two countries received independence in 1991 following the break-up of the Soviet Union over ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked region in the South Caucasus which lies within Azerbaijan's internationally recognised borders.

More than 30,000 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced before Russia brokered a cease-fire in 1994.

The mountainous region, inhabited predominantly by ethnic Armenians, provoked more tension in the months leading up to Baku 2015 after Azerbaijan shot down what it claimed was an Armenian military helicopter on their territory east of Nagorno-Karabakh, killing three crew members.

As the famous novella by French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry goes, "The Little Prince" came to earth and befriended a little fox, who taught him about many things, including the meaning of friendship.

The story of the Minsk 2019 mascot begins when the Little Prince returned home, leaving earth and Lesik behind.

Having made such a good friend in the Prince, Lesik quickly missed him and all he could think about was finding new friends.

He walked all over his neighbourhood in search of friends, helping his legs grow extremely strong.

He also listened very hard in the hope he could hear potential friends, making his ears grow large.

One day, he heard the story of a legendary fern flower called the Paparats Kvetka that could make all his dreams come true, but he would have to travel to Belarus to find it.

Belarus was far away from Lesik’s home, but he decided that if he was to find true friendship again, he would have to make the journey.

Thanks to his fitness tracker, Lesik knows it took a million steps to reach Belarus, but it was worth it.

The unveiling ceremony was attended by officials from Minsk 2019, the Belarusian branch of UNICEF and children from the Belarusian Association of Assistance for Children and Young People with Disabilities.

Local bands Lifesound and Aura, as well as Daniel Yastremsky, who represented Belarus at the 2018 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, performed for the guests.

"The mascot that has been just presented here is the result of collaboration of a Belarusian designer and MEGOC (Minsk European Games Organising Committee)," Anatol Kotov, the deputy chief executive of Minsk 2019, said at the time.

"In our opinion, Lesik will fit perfectly into the overall concept of a grand sporting event to be held next summer.

"We’re planning plenty of promotional activities with the mascot.

"Let this character bring his spark to the long-awaited event.

"And we want the little fox to find friends not only in Belarus, but throughout the world."

inside the photos

Fact of the day

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Iranian judoka Arash Miresmaeili was disqualified for weighing in at nearly four pounds above the limit for his weight class of his under-66 kilograms match against an Israeli opponent Ehud Vaks in the first round. It was claimed Miresmaeili had gone on an eating binge to protest the International Olympic Committee's recognition of the state of Israel. Iran does not recognise the state of Israel, and Miresmaeili's actions won praise from high-ranking Iranian officials. Mohammad Khatami, the country's President at the time, was quoted as saying Miresmaili's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories". He was later awarded $125,000 by the Government - the same amount given to Olympic gold medallists.

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